Mitch McConnell’s Failed Kentucky Economy

Mitch McConnell’s Failed Kentucky Economy

Gov. Matt Bevin probably didn’t entice many young people when he likened 21st century apprenticeships to colonial-era indentured servitude. But he did provide a useful metaphor — for Kentucky’s economy.

Two new reports underline how, despite an increase in jobs, Kentucky is not catching up economically with the rest of the United States, while areas in the state’s east and west are not even keeping up with Kentucky.

The state’s unemployment rate is low — just 4.3 percent — but the profits from Kentuckians’ work are not showing up in their paychecks. In that respect, Kentuckians are far from alone, as made clear by new household income data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The U.S. economy is distributing almost all of its rewards upward. The gap between the richest 5 percent to 10 percent of households and those in the middle keeps widening, while incomes for those in the middle and below have barely budged in decades.